One Way Down
by dansunedisco
Summary: Kurenai and Anko in an elevator: They don't have a lot in common, but they are friends nonetheless.


**Title:** One Way Down  
**Characters:** Kurenai. Anko. Mentions of Team 8.  
**Rating:** K.  
**Warnings:** Very mild swearing.  
**Summary:** Kurenai, Anko, and an elevator. They don't have a lot in common, but they are friends nonetheless.  
**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.

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**One Way Down**

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The first half of the chuunin exams were over and Kurenai had mixed emotions. 

Hospital rooms never did much good for her mood. If she had learned anything over the course of being a kunoichi, and a genjutsu-user at that, it was that the psychological sometimes did more work than the physical. There was a feeling of unease lingering in the room, one that she could not shake.

Shino had been the only one of her three students to advance to the next round. She was proud of his accomplishment, of course, but she'd already had a strong conviction that he would excel without difficulty. Another favorable event was watching Kiba and Hinata's fights, as it had given her a good look at where they were in their development. Even though the matches were both embarrassing and inspiring (Kiba and Hinata, respectively) it had been the first time she'd truly acknowledged how far her students had progressed since their graduation from the Academy.

And how far they haven't, she thought with a slight frown. _But under the circumstances_, she told herself, _they have done very well_.

She crossed her legs and eyed the IV-drip that was hanging on a hook above Hinata's hospital bed. It had been a few hours since her emergency surgery and she was still in a medically-induced coma. She looked peaceful and was, hopefully, out of pain. After her fight with Neji, a great deal of work had to be done to reverse the damage caused. Kurenai was relieved that Hinata had finally stood up for herself, though she still turned a little pink to think that it took the village dunce to—no, that it took _Naruto_ to finally get her nerves to strengthen.

Kurenai tapped her fingers along the chair's arm. She knew it was hard for Hinata to stand up for herself. Growing up hadn't been easy for her. While her father wanted her to show prodigal talent, the elders still had qualms with putting her in situations that jeopardized her. The tension from both sides... unbearable.

A soft click to her left alerted her to another presence and she uncrossed her legs. The doorknob turned slowly and a sympathetic-looking nurse walked into the room. She held a metal clipboard against her chest, as if defending her torso from whatever harm, and gave Kurenai a strained look.

"Pardon the intrusion. Visiting hours are over, Yuuhi-san."

"I understand. Thank you," she said and allowed the nurse to escort her from the room.

The hallway was in a private wing of the hospital. It tended to be reserved for ANBU and other high-profile shinobi whose line of work demanded secrecy. The nurse left her with a small wave to go on her way at the nursing station.

Luckily, she didn't have to wait for an elevator as the metal doors slid open without hesitation when she pressed the call button. Kurenai stepped into the elevator and touched her index finger to the 'lobby' button on the panel. The elevator gave a shuddering sigh and the doors began to tremble shut. She folded her arms across her chest and shifted her weight onto her left leg in a habitual pose.

And, much to her surprise, with perhaps only a few inches of space between the elevator doors left, a hand gripping a stick of sweets popped through. The two sides of the door clanked around the wrist and then sprung away with jerk. Whoever had jammed their hand into the door as a fleeting attempt to catch the next elevator down was fortunate the hospital had implemented motion detectors on it.

"Yowch!" was the only exclamation she heard from the other side. Kurenai lifted an eyebrow. If the sweets-on-a-stick hadn't given away the identity of whoever was on the other side, then that certainly had.

"Anko," she said in greeting.

Anko gave her a dubious grin while she rubbed at her wrist. "Oh hey, Kurenai."

Then her expression shifted into a faux-annoyed pout. "I would've expected you to hold the door open for me, since we're friends and all." She stepped inside the elevator and jabbed at the already-lighted 'lobby' button, nibbling at her dango the whole while.

Kurenai laughed lightly. "I hadn't noticed your presence until you offered your hand to the elevator." The doors slid shut in front of them and, with another soft shake, the elevator began to descend down the shaft.

Anko huffed in response to her words, or maybe it was the calm demeanor Kurenai still hadn't managed to shake off, even in the presence of someone as energetic as her. She placed a hand at her hip to regard her friend with a pointed look. "Are you saying I'm invisible?" Her words were mixed with just the right amount of teasing and friendly seriousness.

"Ah, of course not," Kurenai replied. "You're hard to miss."

Nearly all their spontaneous run-ins started and ended with some sort of jab on their appearance. It was a running gag between the two of them, really. The first time they had met was during _their _first chuunin exam. Anko, dressed differently at the time yet with all the flare of her present self, had accused Kurenai of deliberately dressing up for the occasion. Kurenai had to admit she hadn't taken well to the other girl's lack of verbal inhibition at first. She had been even more reserved in her youth than she was currently and sometimes found it hard to relate to others who hadn't the same quiet focus as her. Of course, her assumption that Anko was just a mischievous shinobi bent on going nowhere was proved deadly wrong when she lost, rather badly, to the girl during their fight match-ups. She hadn't made chuunin then. Anko had. It was almost like a splash in the face—there was a little stinging in the eyes, but it was refreshing awakening call.

Kurenai learned something of respect then.

In any case, the two of them kept running into one another rather frequently in their home village and, one day, they simply became familiar enough to agree to a friendship.

"Your brats did pretty well today," Anko said absentmindedly, rubbing at the corner of her mouth with her thumb. There was no leftover food there, but Kurenai supposed it was habit.

"Thank you. But I didn't see you at the preliminary matches," she said after a moment.

"Huh, yeah, you're right." Anko sighed loudly. "I was here, actually."

"Oh?"

She rubbed at the back of her neck with another trademark grin. "You know how much I fall and hurt myself."

Kurenai smiled. Although Anko did have her accidents from time to time, it wasn't often that she found herself in the private ward of the hospital for treatment. But Kurenai wouldn't push the matter. She'd had her suspicions that something was off, but it wasn't in her nature to pry.

Anko dropped her hand to her side and, in that one motion, her grin turned predatory. "So I hear around the grapevine that you and Asuma…" She leaned in conspiratorially and waggled her eyebrows.

Kurenai clucked her tongue, "Not a chance."

"I_ think_ I see you blushing."

"Nonsense."

"Oh, c'mon, _admit it._"

"Anko," Kurenai said, as pleadingly as she was able. "It's really nothing."

"So it's _something_!" Anko cheered. "Ha, I knew it."

The elevator bounced twice as it came to a stop at the lobby floor. The doors slid open and the two women stepped out. Several nurses waved shyly to Anko and she waved energetically back. Perhaps Anko's previous words about little accidents had more merit than she'd thought.

"It's really nothing," Kurenai said finally, following her friend out the front entrance. "I would tell you if it were… something."

"Eh, it's no big deal." Anko shrugged. "I think you two would be cute together."

"Really," Kurenai said. "How did you conjure up that idea?"

"Well, for one thing he's always staring at your ass."

Kurenai frowned in response. She had noticed and, strangely enough, noticed that it didn't bother her as much as it could have. His obvious attraction to her had nothing to do with their potential as a couple, anyway. Sometimes Anko's logic flew over her head.

After a long pause, Anko touched her fingers to her chin and fixed Kurenai with a significant look. "You know, I don't blame him."

"Hm?" Kurenai's brows furrowed and her step flattered in just the slightest bit.

"Ah, nothing!" Anko's mouth spread into another cheeky grin. "Girl's night out on Thursday?"

"Yes," Kurenai said, regaining her composure. "Same time as usual."

"See you!" Anko trotted off down the street and sent a casual wave from over her shoulder.

Kurenai sighed. _Sometimes I wonder...  
_

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End file.
